I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"Yes! Of course!"

Asuka rubbed her eyes.

"Kiyoshi, thank you."

Don't thank me, I...

"Yes, that's good to know."

It's not worth it.

……

Aunt Aso never showed up in the end.

P.S.: Sigh, it's almost time. There will be a break in updates for a while, please note, around the 10th of the month.

Chapter 16 How do you like to eat watermelon?

"Well……"

"what--"

Kiyoshi immersed himself in the hot water, stretching his body freely in the bathtub. Exhaustion seeped into his body through every pore, and the hot bath soothed Kiyoshi's drowsy mind, slowly bringing on a wave of sleepiness.

With her mind blank, Qinglai stared blankly at the warm light on the ceiling, which was covered with water mist, letting go of all her thoughts.

"I'm so tired..."

A figure appeared in the toilet, which was separated from the bathroom by a door, holding a basket in his hand, seemingly bending down to pick something up.

“Really,” the voice complained gently, “you’ve left clothes all over the floor.”

"I'm sorry~"

Kiyoshi covered his face with a towel that had been scalded by hot water, his voice muffled.

As Touko started the washing machine, she reminded Kiyora, who was taking a bath, "Don't fall asleep in there again, okay? Last time you almost did—"

"Yes~"

Yuanzi, revealing her true nature as an elderly mother, continued to busy herself with her work while talking to Qinglai.

"Kiyoshi, are you listening?!"

"have--"

Kiyoshi answered listlessly.

"Seriously, this place is exactly like Karl's!"

It's here, it's here.

Whenever this happens, no matter who makes a mistake, Qinglai and Carol will inevitably be tied up and scolded.

After removing the cooled towel from his face, Qinglai listlessly started playing with the towel jellyfish.

"Come out quickly," Yuanzi reminded him repeatedly before leaving, "Mom bought a watermelon today."

Upon hearing this, Kiyotaka, who had been sprawled out in the bathtub like a pancake, immediately sat up straight. "Watermelon?!"

Outside the door, Touko smirked, "Hmm~, if Kiyora doesn't hurry up, Karl will eat her up~"

"Coming right away!"

Having hastily left the reluctantly hot bath, the watermelon clearly held a greater appeal.

Qinglai hastily dried her hair with a towel, then dashed down from the second floor to the living room on the first floor, completely ignoring Yuanzi's almost roaring voice behind her:

"Kiyoshi, the shoes!"

A brief, hurried footstep caught someone's attention. She was carrying an elegant cloth bag and stopped by the stairs. The next second, she saw Qinglai, who was barefoot, with messy hair, and looked completely different from the Qinglai she usually saw at school.

"Rina?"

Kiyoshi clearly hadn't expected Reina to visit at this time.

"Didn't expect that?"

"I really didn't expect that."

Kiyoshi immediately noticed the box in Reina's hand, and she was even more surprised that the box she was referring to wasn't the small one.

“I didn’t expect that either.” Reina pointed at Kiyoshi, indicating that the other person’s current disheveled appearance was completely different from his usual self.

That's because—

"Tachibana Kiyoyori!"

The Demon King caught up from behind, carrying his shoes.

Kiyoshi and Reina involuntarily straightened their backs.

"You don't have to run so fast if you want watermelon, do you?" Touko placed the slippers in front of Kiyoyori and watched her put her feet into them. "You're in high school now, and sometimes you still act like a little—oh my, Reina, what brings you here?"

Touko's speed in changing her tone made Kiyori applaud in admiration.

Reina gripped the box tightly in her hand. "Good evening, Aunt Touko. I've come to see Kiyora. This is a gift."

He solemnly handed the cloth bag to Touko with both hands, opened the plain cloth bag, and inside was an exquisite sushi box.

"Thank you, Reina," Touko said with a smile, her face now bright and cheerful, unlike the dark expression she had when scolding Kiyori. "Let's go eat watermelon with Kiyori. Auntie bought a whole one today."

After Touko went into the kitchen, Kiyoyori walked up to Reina's side.

Why does Reina always seem so afraid of her mother?

"Isn't Kiyoyori also afraid of my mother?"

"Completely different, okay..."

Because Kiyoyori had a bit of adorable baby fat when he was a child, he looked like a delicate foreign doll when dressed in elaborate dresses. As a result, he was always held in Reina's mother's arms with great affection, and was often forced to change into some delicate little dresses with Reina. This caused Kiyoyori to have a trauma from childhood.

"The past is too painful to recall..."

Reina nodded in agreement.

............................................................

The Tachibana family has a tradition of fighting over watermelons.

The reason was that Touko believed that eating watermelon often was bad for the stomach, so even though the Tachibana family could afford the price of watermelon, watermelon was not a common fruit in the Tachibana family, especially since Touko was the only one who could buy a limited quantity each time.

So every time we eat watermelon, it's a "bloody battle".

But today seems different from usual; Yuanzi actually bought a whole watermelon.

Something's fishy.

Kiyoshi sat at the table, while Reina stood behind her, blow-drying her hair.

The buzzing of the hairdryer drowned out all other sounds, even making Rena's voice sound incredibly distant.

"Hey, I'll tell you."

"what?"

Kiyoshi turned his head and was hit in the face by a strong blast of warm air.

"What did Reina just say?"

Kiyoshi removed the stray strands of hair from her lips and turned off the hairdryer.

“I said,” Reina patiently repeated, “how is Asuka-senpai?”

"Ah..." Kiyoshi hesitated for a moment, "After all, the studies in the third year of high school are very heavy. You must have been exhausted during this period, but you were much better when you got home, and you had a lot more energy."

Kiyoshi turned his head and gave a bitter smile from an angle that Reina couldn't see.

The watermelon was crisp and sweet, but Qinglai couldn't tell why he tasted an overwhelming bitterness in the red flesh.

The watermelon is still the same watermelon, but they can never go back to how they were before.

..................................................................

Kiyoshi carried two cups of warmed milk back to his room. Reina was sitting upright at the low table by the bed, casually flipping through a paperback book she had taken from the bookshelf.

The music playing in the room wasn't the trumpeter Reina liked, but rather a CD of Asuka playing the euphonium that she had left there before, and the person playing it was none other than Masakazu Shindo.

He paused as he placed the milk on the table.

"Why is Rena suddenly listening to the euphonium?"

"Hmm..." Reina took a sip of milk, leaving a thin layer of milk mustache on her lips. "I just saw it."

The melodious music echoed in the room, and Kiyoyori's image unconsciously appeared before his eyes.

Ugh……

She sighed almost imperceptibly.

“Speaking of which, the feeling of this playing…” Reina frowned thoughtfully, “It seems very familiar.”

"Use milk to calm your nerves. This is an introductory CD for the euphonium. Most people practice using this, so it's not surprising that it feels familiar."

Reina nodded, acknowledging the answer, but still looked preoccupied.

"Rena," she said, placing the cup on the table, "what happened?"

He came to her house without saying hello, clearly preoccupied with something but remaining silent.

It's something that Reina would do, yet it's also unlike her usual style.

"actually,"

"I feel like Kumiko is hiding something from me."

P.S.: I'm completely stuck on this again today. I suddenly don't know how to write anymore, and I have a bit of a headache.